Good morning, brother pilgrim,What, bound for Canaan’s coast?March you toward Jerusalem,To join the heavenly host?Pray, wherefore are you smilingWhile tears run down your face?We soon shall cease from toiling,And reach that heavenly place.

To Canaan’s coast we’ll hasten,To join the heavenly throng;Hark! from the banks of Jordan,How sweet the pilgrims’ song!Their Jesus they are viewing,By faith we see Him too;We smile and weep and praise Him,And on our way pursue.

With streams of consolation,We’re filled as with new wine;We die to transient pleasures,And live to things divine.We sink in holy rapturesWhile viewing things above;All glory to my Savior,My heart is full of love.

Through all the world belowGod is seen all around;Search hills and valleys through,There He’s found.The growing of the corn,The lily and the thorn,The pleasent and forlorn,All declare God is there.In meadows dressed in green, God is seen.

See springing waters rise,Fountains flow, rivers run;The mist that veils the skyHides the sun.Then down the rain doth pour,The ocean it doth roarAnd beat upon the shore,And all praise, in their ways,The God who ne’er declines His designs.

The sun with all his raysSpeaks of God as he flies;The comet in her blaze,“God!” she cries.The shining of the stars,The moon when she appears,His awful name declare;See them fly through the sky,And join the solemn sound all around.

Christina Georgina Rossetti was born in London on December 5, 1830, the youngest child of Frances and Gabriele Rossetti. Christina began writing stories and poetry at a very young age and continued to do so throughout her life. Today she is best remembered as the author of “In the Bleak Midwinter,” which has been set to music by many composers. Here it is in an arrangement by Alice Parker of the choral setting by Gustav Holst, sung by the Washington Master Chorale.

It’s the birthday of the Father of English hymnody, Isaac Watts (1674-1748). Isaac began writing poetry at a very young age, and when he complained about the lackluster music he heard at church, his father challenged him to come up with something better. Isaac accepted the challenge, and he went on to write hundreds of hymns — including “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” “Jesus Shall Reign,” “Come, Ye That Love the Lord,” and “Joy to the World.” Here is one of my favorites.

When I can read my title clear to mansions in the skies, I’ll bid farewell to every fear, and wipe my weeping eyes.

Should earth against my soul engage and hellish darts be hurled, then I can smile at Satan’s rage, and face a frowning world.